ACE Enexor Inc., the oil and gas company of the Ayala group, has cemented a joint venture agreement with US firm Red Holdings B.V., a subsidiary of Gen X Energy for the development of a 1,100-megawatt combined cycle gas-fired power project.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Thursday, Nov.11, ACE Enexor specified that the planned power plant venture has already been green-lighted by the company’s board of directors.

In the partnership deal, ACE Enexor and Gen X Energy “will each own 50-percent interest, subject to satisfaction of agreed conditions precedent and execution of definitive documents.”

There are no investment figures yet as well as definitive project site that had been provided by the relevant parties.

Gen X Energy is a portfolio company of New York-based Blackstone Inc., which is an investment management firm that has been mobilizing capital from pension funds, large institutions and individuals.

In its tie-up with the American company, ACE Enexor indicated that their power project “will be able to use natural gas and/or green hydrogen as its fuel to provide firm power to the grid to meet the country’s growing energy demand.”

And since the original core business of ACE Enexor is on oil and gas exploration and development, the Ayala firm similarly stipulated that its board had approved the propounded amendments to the articles of incorporation of the company.

For Gen X Energy, it first partnered with the Lucio Tan group for integrated $735 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and a gas-fed power project that shall be sited in Pinamucan Ibaba in Batangas City.

That particular LNG import facility had been among the projects granted with notice- to-proceed (NTP) by the Department of Energy (DOE), the licensing authority for LNG investments in the country.

Gas is considered as the best technology coupling that could address the intermittency of renewables – primarily solar and wind – which have been the focus of installations by the Ayala group via its other company AC Energy Corp..

The Ayala firm has been concentrating on ‘clean energy developments’ as it casts serious targets on achieving its mid-century net zero aspirations, in keeping with the goals of the Paris agreement.